Jeisal
by Tate Icasa
Summary: Working title.The Christa has never been a good place for domestic animals. Bad summery.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

The artificial lighting aboard the Christa told Radu that it was 'night' as easily as if he'd been on a planet, even if his drooping eyelids and the snores of his bunkmates hadn't given the fact away as instantly. For a moment, he wondered what had woken him at such an early hour, before dismissing it as the same that had woken him at night for the last four days. Something was aboard the ship that shouldn't have been. He was almost sure of it.

It was probably another animal, possibly from the moon the ship had stopped in orbit of not long ago for spare parts. Suzee had said the protomix drive had need to be repaired. Surprisingly, though Ms. Davenport was sneezing a bit more than usual, she didn't seems suspicious about it. None of his fellow students seemed like they had anything to hide, and Radu was usually good at reading at least that much from all of them.

Closing his eyes, he tried to drown out Harlans snores, but with minimal success even with the earmuffs Rosie had given him.

Finally, he sighed and stood up, placing the earmuffs in the cubby-hole beside his bunk and sliding said bunk into the wall. Stopping only a second to change into uniform, he quietly slid out the bunkroom and into the corridor. He had hardly gone two steps before he heard a tiny whoosh of air behind him that made him jump, before realizing that it was only Thelma.

"Hello, Radu. Shouldn't you be sleeping now?" She asked brightly.

Thelma was a lot of things, a colleague and a friend of sorts, plus the only one of the crew who could actually communicate directly with the ship. She possessed a wide variety of skills. Unfortunately, common sense was _not_ one of those skills.

"I should." He said, as softly as he could, which was quite soft, considering that the voice he used with the others was almost a shout to most andromedans. His own voice hurt his ears sometimes, especially when he yelled.

"Then why aren't you?"

Subtlety was another of the traits she was lacking in.

He merely looked at her. She blinked.

"Have I said something wrong?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No." He answered. "I'm just. . .I can't sleep. I'll go to the MedLab and find something to help me."

"I will accompany you, Radu!" She said, seeming to stand straighter.

For once, he wished that the ship _wasn't _so finely attuned to her crew.

"No, no, that's alright. I'm sure you have other duties." He said quickly. "I can make it on my own, really, I don't want to keep you."

"Nonsense! What would I be doing so late?" She asked, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. Maybe it was, for all Radu knew. He'd never actually seen her working at night, he was usually asleep, yet he'd been under the impression, as was the rest of the crew, that Thelma did more work at night, while she wasn't under constant surveillance, that she did during the day. That fiasco with the secret, so long ago, had almost permanently imprinted the idea in their minds.

Not seeing much choice, he let Thelma lead him to the MedLab, and waited patiently while she went through cupboard after cupboard, muttering to herself in binary, that though he could hear, he couldn't translate. He'd never told anyone about her muttering, it was usually at an auditory level that none of the others would hear, but she did it quite frequently. Usually before she said something that was actually helpful. He had the feeling that she was communicating with the Christa when she did it.

As if sensing his thoughts, Thelma turned from her chore and smiled at him. Then, with another tiny whir of binary, she plucked a pill bottle off a shelf and exclaimed, "Oh! Here you are!" With a slightly patronizing voice, she proceded to lecture the bottle about 'running off and hiding', and Radu had to concentrate not to pull a Bova and roll his eyes.

Sometimes, Thelma was just plain weird.

Abruptly, she stopped her lecture in the middle of a word, and her eyes rolled up into her head.

With only a small amount of concern, it was the look she had when she was receiving large bits of information from the ship, Radu half-rose before her eyes snapped back with a slight, sigh-like sound and she smiled wider.

"This should do the trick, Radu." She said, handing him the pill-bottle. "You can keep it in your room if you like."

Nodding and muttering a polite 'thank you' Radu attempted to use the Jumptube to return to the boys bunkroom.

"Radu, the jumptube system is-"

He'd already jumped into the tube, however, and though he heard her quite clearly, there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation.

Thelma sighed. "Not working." She sighed, then shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well. He'll find his way back eventually." With a new whir of binary already forming, she went back to nearly mindlessly patrolling the corridor of the deck.

Radu, on the other hand, was not quite so confident he could find his way back. The tube had finally spit him out, in an unknown, or at least basically unexplored, part of the ship. Oh, he was confident that he could find his way back, his andromedan sense of direction would see to that, he just wasn't sure if it would be in time to get any sleep, or even in time for ComPost duty or Ms. Davenports lesson.

Another demerit might cost him the course, and he knew it very well. Not only was he about three lessons behind in most of his studies, he already had three demerits for being late, and a fourth would merit him a total absense. A failing grade, and he hadn't even started the science project he was supposed to have started.

Without another thought on the hopelessness of the situation, and mentally yelling at himself for sounding like his rather annoying bunkmate, he began to walk, in the only direction that the current corridor would allow.

After almost two hours of walking in very nearly a straight line, he stopped. It was rather pointless to keep walking without knowing where he was going. He could only think of one thing to do, and he didn't particularly like that option. However, it seemed to be the only one left to him.

"Thelma?" He called, expecting her to appear behind him, as she always did, and willed himself not to jump when she did. The fact that she _didn't_ appear after several seconds of waiting bothered him. Frowning, he called again. Still, there was no reply, and no strange burst of air behind him, to signify her strange teleportation, the only way he could describe the way she came and went almost without notice. A hint of actually worry tinged his voice when he called a third name, which still earned no response.

He was about to start walking again when he felt a gaze on the back of his neck, like someone watching him just beyond his vision. Hearing nothing, besides the usual noise of the engine and the breathing of every member of the crew, he turned hesitantly, unsure if he was imagining things or not. His eyes quickly scanned as far up the corridor as they could see, from the ceiling to the floor, and working their way back to within a few feet of himself within second, they still located nothing. Reluctantly, he turned again and began to walk. Within five steps, he fell, an unusual feat for any andromedan, and landed on his face, his eyes staring straight ahead, at a tiny creature about the size of an earth cat.

The creature itself resembled a cat in other ways as well. It was decidedly feline, though with smooth, black fur so short it was almost skin, and six legs instead of four. Its face was oddly shaped as well, each pointed ear tapering off into the air, and each a bit longer than it seemed they should be, tipped in silverish-white. It had no whiskers, unlike most felines, though its curling tail almost appeared prehensile, though it was curled around its feet. It's eyes marked it as feline, even if the rest of it was a bit strange. Each eye itself was perfectly round, though the pupil itself was an almond-shaped slit, and unlike an earth-cat, its eyes seemed to glow more from the inside than from light reflected off its eyes.

For a stunned second, Radu simply stared at the creature, before realizing he was still laying on the ground. Before making an attempt to get up, he noted that he didn't hear any heartbeat or breath coming from the creature, though that could mean anything. It might not have the same types of organs, but still, he should have heard _something._ Once more, he tried to call Thelma, but as he'd begun to suspect, she didn't answer him. He rose to his feet, keeping one eye on the creature suspiciously, and glanced around the corridor again. It seemed to stretch as far as his eye could see, with no end anywhere at all.

He began to regret leaving the jumptube control, even though there was only one tube, and it was an exit tube, not an entrance. Maybe he could have disabled the controls and climbed his way back to the MedLab. Rejecting that idea almost as soon as he thought it, he shook his head.

The creature didn't make any move at all, seemingly content just to watch him, and though he watched it as well, it didn't appear concerned when he began to walk again. After he had gone only a short distance, he turned around again, to find the creature sitting almost on his heels, looking up at him expectantly.

Beginning to get freaked out, he sped up his pace just a bit, and a bit more until he was almost running, but each time he looked back, the creature was walking -_walking_- behind him, as if it wasn't affected by the speed at all. Realizing that trying to out run the thing would be impossible, he slowed to a walk, which seemed to suit the creature fine. Glancing back every few seconds, almost paranoically, he continued until he thought he might drop from exhaustion.

He stopped to lean against the wall, listening for the sounds of the rest of the crew waking up, he heard nothing besides their breathing. It must not have been as long as he thought. He hoped they'd wake soon, if only to realize he was missing and try to find him. Thelma, he knew, would tell them what had happened, but only if they asked, and only then if they asked very specifically.

He decided that maybe the best way for him to be found was to stay in one place, and lowered himself to the ground. The creature made a small sound, somewhat akin to a mew, and pawed at his knee. He looked at it curiously.

"What are you?" He asked, then laughed quietly. "I'm talking to a cat. At least, I think you're a cat." He turned his attention back to the creature.

_Not a cat._

He heard the words clearly, inside his mind, and wondered if he'd imagined them.

_Not imagined, either._

He tipped his head, and looked at the creature, unsure whether he was simply tired, or there was intelligence behind its eyes. That voice had almost sounded as if it were mocking him. Hesitantly, he reached out and touched the creatures head. It nuzzled his hand encouragingly, so he didn't opt to remove it.

_Perfect._

He didn't get a chance to ask the real-or-imagined voice what it meant by perfect. The creature nuzzling his hand suddenly dung sharp, painful fangs into it, piercing its amazing density as if it were clay. With a yelp, he jerked his hand back to his chest, glaring at the creature, who stared impassivly back.

He felt his mind begin to numb before his body, and his last thought was of toxins, as his eyes slowly dragged closed against his will, and his body fell with a thud to the floor.

The creature padded up to him without a sound and flicked its tail toward his face. When he failed to respond it seemed to get a tiny bit bigger, not in a physical sense, but in another way, prouder and more confident, before it turned its back on him and disappeared into the corridor.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One:

"Mr. Radu, lay in a course for - where's Mister Radu?"

Harlan shrugged without turning. "He wasn't in the bunkroom when Bova and I got up this morning." He said.

Commander Seth Goddard sighed. "Thelma?" He called.

"Yes, Commander?" Thelma said from directly behind him, almost before he'd finished speaking. He shook his head.

"Where's Radu?"

Thelma tilted her head. "I do not know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" The Commander asked, not quite calmly.

"It means I can't locate him on the Christa's internal sensors." She stated matter-of-factly. Suzee, at her console, smothered a grin, and Bova rolled his eyes. "He is lost." Thelma proclaimed, in a tone that said that she definitely thought that was helpful. Even though it wasn't.

"Rosie, Harlan, go find him." The Commander said, waving his hand.

Rosie smiled cheerily and was already in the jumptube before he'd finished giving her the instructions. Harlan, on the other hand, felt the need to protest.

"But, Commander-!"

"Now, Band." Goddard said sharply.

Grumbling the entire way, even through the jumptubes, Harlan followed Rosie. Goddard nodded without really listening to the grumbling and looked to Suzee and Bova.

"I don't suppose either of you can lay in a course and implement it?"

Harlan hardly glanced at Rosie, eyes darting around the corridor suspiciously.

"It's really funny Radu." He drawled finally. "Where are you hiding?"

"You think he's hiding?" Rosie asked. "Is it a game?"

"It is now." Harlan muttered. "Let's get this over with."

"Well, when was the last time you saw Radu?"

Harlan paused to think about the question. When _was_ the last time he'd seen the pesky andromedan? It had to have been the night before, it was impossible for him to not have seen Radu before bed, they lived in the same bunkroom. For some reason, though, he couldn't recall actually _seeing_ the boy, and he felt sort of guilty about it.

"I think it was last night, before bed." He told her.

Rosie nodded. "So the smartest place to start would be the boys bunkroom!" She said happily, taking off in that direction. Harlan watched her for a moment, before shaking his head and following. Without a doubt, she was right about the idea, but Harlan wasn't ready to admit that he hadn't thought of it first. So, in typical Harlan style, he said nothing. "Where do you think he would have gone from there?"

Harlan blinked, pulled out of his thoughts by the question. "I don't know, you think I watch Radu twenty-four seven?"

"No, silly." Rosie said, still smiling. "But you are his best friend."

_That_ made Harlan pause or a moment. _Him_, the andromedans best friend? For a second, he had to mentally stop himself from laughing. It was a ridiculous idea, completely and utterly unbelievable, and yet, he realized, somehow true. Acting as he hadn't frozen, Harlan shrugged non-committally. Rosie didn't make another comment for a while, and Harlan's thoughts began to wander.

Exactly when had he and Radu become best friends? He knew he'd stopped thinking of him as his enemy, but he hadn't realized how far that had gone. It must have happened so gradually no one would have noticed, he decided finally. That was a perfectly logical explaination, with only one fault. Rosie had known, and he couldn't figure out how she could know before him. He was still musing over the question when Rosie spoke to him again..

"Sorry, I wasn't listening." He said. "What?"

"I said, 'we're at the bunkroom.'" She repeated.

Harlan frowned.

"Great. I don't see him."

"Me neither." She rolled her eyes. "Where would he have gone from here?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Thelma?"

Rosie beamed. "Great idea, Harlan! Thelma?"

"Yes, Rosie?"

"When Radu left his room last night, which way did he go?"

"That way." Thelma said, pointing. "To the jumptubes."

Harlan groaned. "If he went to the jumptubes he could be anywhere on the ship by now."

"Yes." Thelma agreed. "But the sensors are not picking him up."

"Where did he go in the jumptubes last night?" Harlan asked.

"I do not know, Harlan, the jumptubes were malfunctioning."

"Again?"

"Yes. It is possible that Radu is in a section of the ship that my memory banks do not recall, and therefore cannot scan." With that un-helpful bit of insight, she turned and shuffled down the corridor, bumping into a wall once before turning the corner.

Harlan sighed. "Come on, Rosie, let's go exploring the jumptube system." He said, managing a _slightly_ enthusiastic tone before losing it completely.

"Okay."

"Well, it doesn't _look_ like its malfunctioning." Rosie said uncertainly. Her knowledge of engineering was basically limited to the communications console. Besides that, all she knew was that the Lumanians certainly hadn't color coded their cables. How anyone could figure out how every device on the ship functioned was beyond her.

Harlan leaned closer to the control device and hesitated.

"I wonder if Suzee could wire this to send us to the same place it sent Radu."

"I'm sure she could." Rosie said. "Do you want me to call her?"

Harlan nodded, carefully removing the cover of the control device.

Rosie nodded back and moved to the corner, where a microphone hung off the wall. Pulling the microphone down to her level, she flicked it on.

"Suzee, could we have your help down here?" She asked.

There was a moment of silence during which Rosie was sure Suzee was aquiring the Commanders permission, before a clipped 'yes' came through the speaker. Waiting only seconds more, Suzee slid out one of the two exit tunnels.

"What do you need?" She asked, before looking at the control device and frowning. "What did you _do_ to it, Harlan!"

"Is it really that bad?" Rosie asked worriedly, and the same time Harlan hotly protested, "Nothing! I didn't touch it!"

"Really?" Suzee asked.

"Well, except to take the cover off, of course." Harlan admitted. "Did it really do that much damage?"

"No," Suzee said thoughtfully. "That wouldn't have done this. There are cables crossed here that I'm certain shouldn't be." She hesitated before touching them.

"Before you fix it, Suzee, could you get it to send us to wherever it sent Radu?"

"He used this? No wonder he's missing!" She exclaimed, before thinking on the question. "I think so. The network has a temporary memory of everywhere it sends a crewmember," She said finally. "So it should be a simple matter of. . ." She moved a couple of cables before punching in a code. "That should do it." She said. "While you two are off searching, I'm going to put his back the way it should be. Wonder how it got like this, anyhow?"

Harlan jumped into the jumptubes without acknowledging her, but Rosie smiled warmly and murmured thanks before jumping in herself. Suzee nodded gratefully to the younger girl and turned her full attention to the tangling of circuitry.

How anyone could have done so much damage to the control device either meant that they knew absolutely nothing about the inner workings of any space vessel, or that they knew a dangerous amount about the workings of this particular vessel. Either meant an intruder on the ship, and Suzee knew she didn't like that idea. Especially if this was the kind of thing they did on a daily basis. No matter what Thelma said about the Christa's judge of character, she was certain that the ship had completely lost it if she/it would let someone mangle her systems like this. Not that she hadn't done her fair bit of 'mangling', but hers was usually nothing major. The jumptube network, on the other hand, was one of the more important systems. It was the only way to move between certain decks. 'Besides,' she told herself, 'I _always_ fix what I mess up.'

_So you admit that you mess up?_

Suzee spun. For a second she could have sworn she heard Catalina's voice in her head. But that was ridiculous, she hadn't been able to sense the Saturnian girls presense since just before the dimensional rift had closed. She'd told the crew that the reason she hadn't been able to talk to the girl was because of something in the upper atmosphere of Kareesh 9, and for a while she'd thought that was it. Until they'd left the planet, of course, and she still had no contact. She didn't bother to point out her error, both because it _was_ an error on her part, and more importantly, though she was certain that Cat was fine, the others would worry if they found out she couldn't reach her. Harlan especially, though she'd managed to keep his mind off worrying about her for the most part.

Slightly apprehensively, she turned back to the control and began to pull and re-connect cables and wires with alarming accuracy and speed for someone who'd never done so before. She was certain that the Christa must have helped her at least a little bit, or she would never have been able to get as much done so quickly. She paused in the middle of her work and frowned. Moving away from the control device, she pulled the microphone down.

"Commander, I'm re-wiring the jumptubes. I wouldn't suggest anyone try to use them for a while, at least until I finish. I don't know where they'd end up if they tried."

"Understood, just give us word when you finish."

"Aye, aye." She said, pushing the microphone back. She turned back to the control device, fully intending to finish within the next five minutes and move on to check the other devices throughout the ship, and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Jeisal?" She said softly.

Harlan banged his head against the wall where the control device should have been. Rubbing his head slightly, he grimaced.

"This is _so_ not good." He said, more to himself than to Rosie.

"We'll find a working entrance tube, Harlan. You'll see." She answered him anyway. "Come on, pick a direction."

Harlan frowned.

"Which way do you think Radu would have gone?" He asked her.

Rosie shook her head. "Okay then, lets go this way." She turned and began to walk.

"Why this way?" He asked, just to keep up a conversation. He really didn't want things to be silent, especially here in this part of the ship, an area where no one had been before. Except Radu, he amended silently.

Rosie shrugged. "I just picked a direction." She said said. "If we don't find him we can turn around and go the other way. I don't think theres much more than corridor here."

"Got that right." Harlan said. "But I don't want to have to walk the whole deck twice."

"Alright, you go the other way, and we'll meet back at the tube." Rosie said reasonably, almost certain that he didn't want to go off on his own. Harlan may have been brave and probably stupid most of the time, but he wasn't fool enough to go off on his own, at least not here.

Harlan glanced around. "Better if we don't split up." He said trying to act as if he didn't notice the nervousness creeping into his voice.

Rosie smiled slightly at that small victory and nodded. "Okay. This way it is."

Bova looked at the Commander.

The Commander looked at Bova.

"We're hopelessly short handed, you realize." Bova said conversationally. "If the Spung were to show up right now, we probably wouldn't live long enough to alert-"

"_Mis_ter Bova." The Commander snapped. "We've been doing alright for a while now. Don't jinx it." He sighed as Bova turned to look at his console.

"You know Commander-"

"I don't want to here another doomsday theory, Mister Bova. Just do your job."

"My job is the moniter the shields." Bova said.

"Yes."

"Then it might be a good idea for you to listen while I tell you that shield strength is dropping rapidly. Level four, at the moment."

The Commander stared at him.

"Well?" Bova said. "Are you going to stare at me, or do something about the shields? Not that it'll do any good." He added as an afterthought.

With a shake of his head, he pointed Bova toward the communications console.

Bova looked at him expectantly.

"I want to talk to Suzee, Mister Bova. Now."

"Aye, aye, sir." Bova said, completely un-enthusiastically, pushing buttons on the console. "You know, I'm not as familiar with this console as my own, I might blow out communication on the ship entirely just by pushing a couple of buttons."

"I said 'now', Mister Bova, and I meant now."

"Communications have been active to Suzee since I said the word sir." Bova said dryly, imagining Suzee's amuzed face. Goddard didn't look quite so amused, in fact, he looked as if he was just seconds away from trying to throttle his tactical officer, but for his part, managed to keep his voice calm, or at least, something resembling a forced calm.

"Suzee, I need you to go down to the engine room and figure our whats wrong with the shields. You can worry about the jumptubes later."

There was a long silence.

"Suzee?"

"I heard you, Commander." Suzee said, sounding distracted. "Unfortunately, I'm not on the same deck as the engine room, and the only way I can get there is if I get the jumptubes working."

Goddard sighed. "Alright, Suzee. But hurry." He nodded to Bova, who cut the communication off. "Where are the shields now?"

Bova moved back to his own console and glanced at it.

"Level four point five." He reported. "And still dropping. Like I said before, if the Spung show up. . ." The Commander shot him a look that told him a lot worse than the Spung was going to happen if he didn't shut up. He trailed off, muttering only loud enough for himself to hear.

Goddard leaned his head against the wall, and blinked.

"Bova, feel the wall." He said.

"What?" Bova asked, slightly unsure that he'd heard properly.

"Feel the wall." Goddard repeated. "Tell me if it feels warmer to you."

"I don't make it a habit to touch the walls, what would I compare it to?" Bova asked, while at the same time carrying out the order. He pulled back his hand. "Ow!"

The Commander was at his side in a second. "What happened?"

Bova rolled his eyes up to look at the Commander. "I don't know, but it hurt." He said, looking down at his hand. There was a tiny red mark at the tip of each of his fingertips, where they had touched the wall.

"Thats odd. It didn't do that to me." Goddard said.

Bova stiffled a cynical laugh. "Oh yeah? Have you seen the side of your head?"

Goddard's eyes widened, and he touched the side of his head. "You're kidding."

Bova stared at him.

"Of course you're not." Goddard said.

"So." Bova said. "What do you suppose it is?"

Goddard shook his head. "I have no idea. But I want to find out."

"You'll have to wait for the jumptubes to be fixed. And for Rosie to get back, since she's the medical officer." He added as an after thought.

"Yes, Mister Bova, I know that."

Bova shrugged.

Rosie stopped dead when she saw Radu.

"Oh my god!" She said, pointing.

"What?" Harlan said, coming up behind her. He followed her finger and gasped.

"Radu!"

Radu was laying on his side, his eyes closed, looking as if he were barely breathing. From the look on his face, Rosie assumed he'd been more curious than angry when he'd fallen. Rosie started to rush forward, and Harlan grabbed her shoulder, shaking his head.

"Wait."

It was actually a smart safety procedure. Both students were kneeling by his side as soon as Harlan was certain there was nothing there that was dangerous for them.

"What happened to him?" Harlan asked finally, after Rosie had declared that both his heart rate and breathing were stable, if slightly slower than usual.

Rosie frowned slightly, inspecting one of Radu's hands. "I'd have to get him to MedLab to find out for sure, but I'd guess that something bit him." She pointed to two round pinpricks that pierced the unconscious andromedans skin.

"Whatever bit him must be strong, Andromedans have tough skin. Something about density, or something like that, I think."

Rosie nodded. "Thats true."

"So theres a wild animal on the ship." Harlan said bluntly. "A wild, powerful animal, loose on the Christa. Great.

"I don't know, Harlan." Rosie said hesitantly. "It looks more like the bite of a domesticated animal to me. Of course, thats just at a glance, it _could_ be a wild animal, I suppose. Whatever it is, I wonder how it got on the ship?"

Harlan shrugged. "You didn't bring another 'pet' back from that moon we just left, did you?"

She shook her head. "I wouldn't do that. Not without permission."

Harlan nodded. "Good. You know how this ship is with pets. And other things brought back from moons that turn into pets." He added, remembering the Gerkel egg that Bova had brought aboard once. He was right about the ship and pets, though. They didn't mix. The Rhombi that Rosie had first taken for a pet had lead the Spung to them, seeking out its telekenisis inducing saliva, and the Eaty creature they had kept after sucking it out of space had nearly eaten the ship out from around them.

Rosie tapped on Radu's shoulder. "Radu? Come on Radu, wake up!"

"I don't think he's gonna wake up." Harlan said, pulling on one of Radu's arms. "Come on, help me lift him. If we work together, maybe we can carry him to the jumptubes. The ones that work, anyhow."

"Alright." Rosie agreed, pulling his other arm unil Radu was supported between them. Letting his feet drag on the ground, they began to walk forward again.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

"Are you real?" Suzee asked, reaching out hesitantly to touch the creature sitting on top of the abandoned control cover. The creature blinked once.

_That depends on your definition of real._

It was Suzee's turn to blink.

"I'm hallucinating." She muttered, turning to the circuitry. Without looking back at the creature, she continued her work on the control device.

With a final sigh, she released the cables and turned. The creature she was almost certain she had imagined was gone. Shaking her head, she lifted and replaced the cover.

"Commander, the jumptubes should be working now." She reported.

"Good work, Suzee." The commander said. "Go to the Engine Room then. Bova is terrible company."

Suzee laughed. "I'm on my way."

She punched in the code and slid into the jumptube. What she didn't notice was that as soon as she had entered the tube, the lights flashing on the control device had changed. The intricate network of jumptubes deep inside the ship shifted again, each tube moving to connect with another to form a single line directly to the place the code specified. At the current moment, tunnels connected to the MedLab were joined with tunnels that lead nowhere by themselves. Those tubes were used to connect the gaps from one side of the ship to the other, and subsequently allow simultaneous jumptubes to be active. The connecting tubes attached to each other only seconds before Suzee sped through them, and because of a tiny glitch in the main processing unit, they didn't connect in the right order, causing her to turn at odd angles on her way through. A ride through the jumptubes was always a unique experience, because there were millions of possible ways for the tubes to connect, and no combination ever seemed to be used twice. The final connection tube attached to an exit and Suzee landed on her feet in the Galley.

The first thing she noticed was that theGalley certainly wasn't the Engine Room, so either she had made a mistake fixing the control device or the Christa was playing a practical joke on her. The next thing she noticed was that the Food Wheel was spinning even though there was no one there, and tubes of food were littering the floor, opened and half spilled. A couple more shot through the air as she watched, seemingly at random. As carefully as she could she made her way across the now accurately named Galley to the microphone on the wall.

"Commander?"

"Suzee! Where are you, I told you to report to the Engine Room."

"I know. I'm in the Galley."

"Did you make a mistake when you put the tubes together again?"

She hesitated. "Possibly, but its very unlikely. I have a theory."

"What is it?"

"Sir, the Food Wheel is going crazy down here. I'd say the Christa wanted me to see it and correct the problem."

"Well she'll have to wait until you fix the problem with the shields."

"Normally, Commander, I'd agree with you. However," She paused. "If the Christa sent me here herself, then I doubt she'll just let me walk away."

That was one of the downsides of having a somewhat sentient ship, she tended to make decisions on her own and not budge until she got her way. The crew was at the mercy of the Christa in much the same way that the Commander and Ms. Davenport were at the mercy of the crew.

Suzee certainly couldn't see any reason that the Food Wheel would be more important that the shields, but if the ship wasn't worried about it she doubted there was any danger in finishing this first. Unless the Christa was senile, which Suzee admitted was a possibility, though a remote one.

No one knew quite how old the ship herself was, though Thelma had as much as said that she was quite old. She had admitted to having more than one crew before them, which surely counted for something, at least in Suzee's book.

The Commander sighed. Suzee's reasoning was flawless, and if it were true then arguing about it would only be wasting time he wasn't sure they had.

"Fine. But hurry this time."

"I am hurrying." Suzee muttered tersely, already standing next to the Food Wheel, her attention focused entirely on it, as it had been since before the Commander had spoken.

Radu half-opened his eyes, then close them again. The sudden brightness, compared to the darkness that was all he'd seen for quite a while, made his head throb.

Sensing his waking, Rosie silently motioned to Harlan to stop walking, and the two lowered Radu to the ground.

"Hey, you alright?" Harlan asked quietly.

Radu moaned. "Y-yeah, I think so. What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, uh, actually, we were looking for you."

"Yeah," Rosie said. "And when we found you you were unconscious."

Radu opened his eyes again and Rosie peered at his face.

"Your pupils are dilating." She explained. "To adjust to the light." She frowned slightly. "But, that's odd. . .they don't look like they're. . .no never mind. My mind must have been playing tricks on me."

"What was it?" Radu asked. "What did you see?"

Rosie shook her head and laughed. "Radu, it's nothing. I was imagining things."

Looking less than convinced, Radu nodded.

"Can you walk?" Rosie asked in concern, honest worry filling her usually perky tone.

"Uh, yeah, I think so." He said. He took Harlans proffered hand and let the older boy practically drag him to his feet. Slightly shakily, he took a few steps.

"It might take you some time to get your bearings, huh?" Harlan asked.

"N-not too long."

Rosie smiled warmly.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Harlan asked.

"What do you mean?" Radu asked curiously.

"You have what looks like a bite mark on your hand, and we found you unconscious."

"There was. . .a creature." Radu said, seeming to struggle with the words.

"What kind of creature?" Harlan pressed. "What did it look like?"

"Like a six-legged black cat with a monkeys tail."

Harlan blinked. "Excuse me."

"It was a feline with six legs and a prehensile tail." Radu said, much clearer than the first time. He shook his head. "It was following me, for a while anyway. I sat down and it let me pet it."

"And then it bit you?" Rosie asked. "That wasn't very nice."

"Its teeth had poison in them."

Harlan frowned. "But it's not lethal, is it?"

"Oh, I doubt it." Rosie said. "But to be safe we should get him to MedLab."

"Which means we have to find a working jumptube."

"Like that one over there?" Rosie asked, pointing.

There, not three feet away, was a jumptube entrance, its green trim glowing faintly in the dim light. Harlan glanced behind him and saw the single exit tube they had left three hours previously.

"You've got to be kidding me." He moaned.

"Maybe it's a different tube." Rosie suggested.

"No, it's the same one." Radu said.

"Well, Thelma did say that the Christa redecorates herself." Harlan said finally. "Maybe this deck was scheduled for remodeling."

Rosie laughed.

"Come." He punched the code for the MedLab in and motioned for Rosie and Radu to go ahead of him. "Ladies first."

Radu shot him a look on his way down that told Harlan that he was not amused. Harlan laughed and jumped into the tube.

"Today is a study of Murphy's Law." Bova said suddenly.

The Commander grunted.

He was right, of course. First, Radu had become lost. Then, the jumptubes malfunctioned, twice. Suzee was stuck in the Galley with a defective Food Wheel, and Harlan and Rosie, who'd gone to look for Radu, were now missing as well. Bova actually suspected that the four of them were off somewhere, hiding and having fun without him. As usual.

"I'm hungry." He said.

"Mister Bova." The Commander snapped. "I'm not in the mood."

"Now you know how I feel."

The Commander glared at him. Bova sighed and turned back to his console. "Shields at level three and dropping." He intoned.

Suddenly, he became aware of something amiss in the atmosphere of the Command Post.

"Phew, its getting humid." The Commander said.

"Must be a malfunction in the environmental system." Bova said.

The Commander punched the side of the helm and winced, cradling his hand.

"Thelma?"

"Yes, Commander Goddard?"

He jumped. "What's wrong with the environmental system?"

Thelma's head dipped twice and she began to emit high-pitched sounds, suddenly her head snapped back into place. "The environmental system is working perfectly." She reported.

"Then why is it so humid in here?"

Thelma shrugged.

"Look!" Bova said, pointing up. Near the ceiling was a small whitish formation that might have been the beginning off a cloud.

"Thelma, is that a cloud, _inside_ the ship?"

Thelma looked up at it curiously and nodded. "I believe it is."

"Why is there a cloud inside the ship?"

Thelma considered this for a moment. "Perhaps it is going to rain." She said finally.

"Inside the ship?" The Commander asked skeptically.

"Radu snowed." Bova pointed out, glancing up from the console.

The Commander blinked. "Point taken."

Bova nodded.

"Thelma, can you adjust the environmental controls so that cloud goes away?"

"I can."

The Commander waited.

"Thelma?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Why isn't the cloud going away? I thought I told you to get rid of it."

"Actually, sir, you asked me if I _could_ get rid of it. And while I do have the ability to-"

The Commander rubbed his temple. He wished that just _once_ Thelma wouldn't take everything he said as literally as possible.

"Thelma, get rid of the cloud."

"Yes, Commander." She closed her eyes.

The cloud darkened, and all the water contained in it was released in a single burst, almost like a bucket, completely drenching the Commander.

Goddard sputtered and glared at Thelma, who smiled proudly and walked away.

"Well," Bova said. "She _did_ get rid of the cloud."

Rosie moved out of the way so that she wouldn't be run over when Radu and Harlan came out of the jumptube, and glanced around the MedLab.

"Oh no." She said.

"What?" Radu asked.

"I think the Christa sent us somewhere else."

"What do you mean. We're in the MedLab, that's where we wanted to be."

Rosie shook her head.

"This isn't _my_ MedLab." She pointed. "Look, you see that shelf over there? All the bottles are arranged alphabetically, they're also all full. I know for a fact that I used up at least half of whats there, and I arranged them by the type of medicine they are, then by size."

"Well maybe the Christa redecorated the MedLab, she could even have restocked for all I know."

"No." Rosie said firmly. "This is another MedLab. For whatever reason, the Christa sent us to a second MedLab."

"If there are two MedLabs, that means there could be more of every room!" Harlan exclaimed.

"I wouldn't get too excited, Harlan." Radu said. "Do you think you'll be able to find those other rooms, even if they do exist?"

"I think thats beside the point." Rosie cut in. "Despite the fact that this isn't the right MedLab, it _is_ still _a_ MedLab, and Radu is overdue for a checkup."

"Yeah, that's right." Radu said, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Work your magic, Rosie." Harlan said. "I know you can do it."

"Great! Mind passing me the micro-scanner?"

Harlan blinked, then nodded, pulling the bar-like instrument from its place and handing it to the Murcurian 'nurse.' Rosie waved the glowing scanner over Radu twice before handing it back to Harlan. She moved to see the display screen.

"The toxin isn't deadly, in fact, its mostly out of your system already, Radu. Blood cell count normal, heart rate normal, breathing normal. Everything's fine." She smiled. "I knew it would be!"

Radu smiled. "Yeah."

"Come on let's. . ." He broke off, noticing that there wasn't a control device, and moaned. "Not again."

"Maybe we can climb them?" Rosie suggested.

"Or go through the door." Radu said, prying it open.

Harlan and Rosie blinked, then hurried out the door in front of Radu.

Ms. TJ Davenport paced the classroom anxiously, wringing her hands. It aggravated her to no end when her students, as they were, were off exploring the ship. Especially when they should have been in class. Granted, they were all doing much better than they had been when they had first boarded the ship, but that was no excuse to slack off. In fact, she found it quite the opposite.

Despite her outward appearance of near-panic, she _did_ trust the students enough not to call the Commander and report their absense. Likely, he already knew, and had probably authorized it. She certainly wouldn't have put it past him to do a thing like that just to irk her.

Grimacing, she looked again at her CompuPad, assuring herself that class hadn't actually started yet, and her students had three more minutes to show up before she was forced to give them all demerits.

With an exasperated sigh, she called Thelma.

"Yes, Ms. Davenport?"

Ms. Davenport screamed and leapt almost a foot in the air. For once, she was thankful that her students weren't there, she didn't need to give them another reason to mock her.

"Thelma, where are my students?" She asked after a second.

Thelma tipped her head.

"Bova is on the Command Post. Suzee is in the Galley. Harlan, Radu, and Rosie are. . .thats odd."

"What?"

"The Christa cannot locate Harlan Band, Radu, and Rosie Ianni." Thelma reported.

Ms. Davenport caught her arm worriedly. "What do you mean she can't locate them!"

"It means they are not in a place her scanners are activated." Thelma said, smiling.

While Ms. Davenport digested that bit of information, Thelma began to walk away.

"Wait, Thelma. Tell the Commander that I find it unacceptable for him to let my students go off exploring like this." She called.

"Alright." Thelma agreed. "I will tell him."

"And send Bova up here! At least one of my students is going to become educated." She muttered.

"Commander." Thelma said, once again seeming to appear out of nowhere. "Ms. Davenport wishes for me to tell you that she finds it unacceptable for you to let her students-"

"I don't care." The Commander grated. "You can tell her to stuff it."

Thelma blinked. "Yes, sir." She said and began to walk away.

"Wait, I didn't mean that." He said quickly, and sighed.

"Alright. Oh, and she would like Bova to report to the classroom."

"No." The Commander said. "Bova stays on the Command Post until I figure out whats happened to the ship."

Thelma smiled and nodded. "Would you like me to tell her that?" She asked.

The Commander paused. "Yeah, tell her that."

Thelma nodded again and walked off.

"Someday," Goddard said, "I'm going to find out how she does that."

"Does what?" Bova asked, looking up from the console.

The Commander glared at him and he raised his arms in surrender, going back to monitering the shields.

Meanwhile, down in the Galley, Suzee was practically standing on the wall, both her hands gripping the side of the Food Wheel and pulling with all her might.

"Come. . .off. . .already!" She shouted, frustrated to death with the stupid thing. It really shouldn't have taken so much effort just to remove the cover and get to the circuitry. A tube of food shot out of the machine and hit her in the stomach, causing her to fall off the wall. "Hey! What was that for!" She paused. "I'm talking to the ship. I'm talking to the _Food Wheel_ on the ship." She muttered, frowning. She stood up and ran a hand through her blue, red, and purple streaked hair.

She began inspecting the sides of the wheel, maybe hoping to find a latch or something that might have been stopping her from pulling it off, but she found nothing.

She tried again, unsuccessfully, to pull the thing off the wall. Finally, in pure frustration, she kicked it. Amazingly, the cover made a small creaking sound and fell, landing directly on top of a startled Suzee.

"You crazy ship!" She yelled, struggling to get out from under the thing. She finally succeeded in pushing it to the side and crawling out. "Well then. . .let's see whats wrong so I can get out of here."


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three:

An artificial wind blew through the girls bunkroom. Had either of the girls been there, neither would have thought there was anything too strange about that fact. The Christa did some very strange things. Most likely, Suzee would assume that it had something to do with the ship cleaning the dust out of the air, or replacing the oxygen content in the air, and Rosie would have said that it felt nice.

Both girls would have been mistaken, though. The type of wind produced by the dust removal system flowed directly from the ceiling through to the floor, and was almost never noticeable, and the oxygen replacement was much the same. This wind seemed to blow from one end of the room to the other, making the sheet on the bunks, and the curtains on the shower, rustle lightly.

The wind was quite harmless in and of itself, and if it weren't for the fact that it was rapidly picking up speed., the internal sensors might never have reported. As it _was_ however, approaching speeds that could potentially be dangerous, the ship noted it as an unexplained anomaly, and directed Thelma to check it out.

The wind continued to speed up, still not at a dangerous level, but in all honesty affecting the temperature in the room. Thelma stood in front of the door and tipped her head.

"Why did you want me here, Christa?" She asked aloud. Recieving no reply, the ship could be so stubborn sometimes, she shrugged and moved close enough to the door that its proximity sensors detected her and opened the doors. "Well, that's odd." She mused, still standing outside the room and watching as one of Rosie's stuffed animals fell over. She shuffled into the room and replaced it, frowning as it only fell over again.

A sudden sound made her turn, and she watched a tiny, visible thread of air become a funnel as the door closed.

Rosie blinked and stared down the corridor.

"This looks familiar." Harlan said after a moment. He turned around and moved closer to the door of the second MedLab. The door opened, revealing the Team Room.

"That's strange." Radu said.

Harlan nodded. "Thelma?" He waited. After a few second, he called again. Still, she didn't show up. "That's stranger." He said after another few seconds.

Radu and Rosie nodded.

"Come on," Harlan said with a suspicious look at the Team Room, "Let's get up to the Command Post before the Commander's head explodes."

"You really think using the jumptubes is a good idea?" Radu asked. "I mean, that is what got us into this mess to start with."

"Yeah, but Suzee went and fixed it while you were. . .out."

Radu nodded.

"Then lets go!" Rosie said.

Harlan nodded and pointed in the direction of the jumptubes.

The three walked in silence for a while before Harlan fell back so that Radu was in the front. Radu looked at him in concern, but the earther nodded his head and motioned. Discreetly, Harlan tapped Rosie's arm. Rosie glanced up.

"Rosie, when Radu got up, what did you see?" He asked as quietly as he could, glancing toward the andromedan to see if he was listening, and knowing it was impossible to tell.

"I shouldn't tell you." Rosie whispered back. "That would be violating doctor/patient confidentiality."

Harlan rolled his eyes. "You won't tell him either. C'mon, Rosie."

Rosie hesitated. "Alright." She agreed finally. "But you can't tell anyone." At his impatient nod she continued. "It might just have been the light, but I could have sworn. . .for a moment it looked like his eyes were glowing." She shrugged.

"Glowing? Like Suzee's?" Harlan asked, raising his voice slightly. Radu glanced back and Harlan smiled apologetically.

"No." Rosie whispered once Radu had turned back around. "Not quite. Glowing like. . .I don't know how to describe it."

Harlan nodded.

It wasn't long until they came to the jumptube, and Radu punched in the code for the Command Post before motioning.

"Ladies first."

He saw Rosie hide a grin, and Harlan laughed.

"I deserved that." He said, jumping into the tunnel.

Rosie looked at Radu expectantly.

"I meant that. Ladies first." Radu said.

"Thanks." Rosie said, pausing to give him a grin on her way into the tunnel. "That was pretty funny, by the way."

Radu didn't get a chance to respond, as she was already in the tube, and he was following close behind.

Bova didn't bother to look up from his console as he heard the jumptubes activate, and the resounding thud didn't coerce him to either. He listened silently as the Commander greeted the three 'lost' students with relief. _Of course,_ he thought, _No one bothers to say hello to me._

"Hi, Bova!" Rosie said cheerfully, coming up behind him.

Oh, the irony.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Monitering the shields." Bova said. "What's it look like?" Inwardly, he winced. It was his Uranian nature that made his as negetive as he was, but he really didn't mean to be mean. Especially the the Murcurian, annoying as she could be.

"Sounds like fun." Rosie said.

"Oh, yeah, loads of it. Did you know I haven't eaten anything in four hours?"

Rosie laughed. "Is that all you think about?"

"Beside our eventually, untimely demise? Yeah, pretty much."

The Commander sighed. "_Go_, Mister Bova." He rolled his eyes. The boy was gone almost instantly, heading for the Galley. The Commander winced, remembering the situation in the Galley.

"What's going on, Commander?" Harlan asked, taking his usual position at the helm.

"Suzee's doing what the Christa wants and fixing the Food Wheel before going down to the engine room to find out whats wrong with the shield power." Goddard answered.

Harlan blinked. "Doing what the Christa wants?"

The Commander nodded.

"Oh, I get it!" Rosie said. "The ship is at least partially intelligent!"

"Like when she rearranged that corridor?"

Goddard looked at him quizzically.

"Long story."

The Commander crossed his arms. "I have time."

Suzee replaced the cover on the Food Wheel just as Bova exited the jumptube.

"Hey, you finished just in time!" He said, rushing over.

Suzee shook her head and left the room.

"What's her problem?" Bova asked, spinning the dial. While he waited, he looked around. There was food _everywhere_. "I'm not cleaning that up." He said, taking the tube the wheel spit out at him.

Suzee punched a code into the jumptube control device.

"_Now_ will you let me go to the engine room?" She asked before jumping in.

As she landed she noted that she had actually ended up where she was supposed to. Except for one thing. She was standing next to the hyperdrive engine, not the engine she usually worked with.

With a sigh, she began looking around for the panel on the wall that opened into the engine room she'd claimed as hers. Her hands ran over the smooth walls, feeling for the rougher surface that indicated that she'd found the panel.

_What_ are _you doing?_

"Looking for the-" She cut herself off and spun around. Once again, she thought she'd heard Catalina. It would have even made sense for her to have asked, she'd never found the panel to begin with and didn't know about Suzee's engine room. It probably would have made her job a bit easier if she had been able to. That aside, Suzee couldn't understand why she'd heard her voice unless she was there, and that was impossible.

She shook her head and went back to feeling for the panel.

Maybe being lost in space had affected her more than she'd thought. This was the third time she'd imagined something that couldn't possibly have existed.

She laughed. "Maybe I'm as crazy as the ship."

Almost as soon as she said it she disregarded that option. Yensidians did _not_ go mad. Well, not often anyway, and never at her age.

_Theres a first time for everything._

She threw her hands up in the air. "Stupid voice!"

There was no reply and she suddenly felt her hand connect with the panel. A section of the wall slid away, revealing the shining silver engine room that she knew. She stepped out onto the bridge and crossed to the console that she knew would be there.

Turning all her attention to the readout in front of her, she began to attempt to restore power to the shields. After working for a few minutes she moved to another console and pushed a few buttons.

"That should be it." She pressed the intercom button on the console. "Commander, check the shields no, power should be rising."

"Rosie?" The Commander asked anxiously.

Rosie looked at Bova's console.

"Level four and rising." She reported, smiling.

"Nice work, Suzee."

"Yeah." Harlan agreed. "Great job!"

"It was nothing." Suzee said. "Once the Christa let me get to the controls."

"Be that as it may," Goddard said. "It was still an excellent job. I say this calls for a celebration."

"Oh no, it does not." Davenport said, practically stalking onto the Command Post. "You all have classes, right now. Chop, chop!"

"Ms. Davenport. . ." The Commander started.

"Commander Goddard." She cut in sharply.

"Ms. Davenport. . ."

"I don't want to hear it. They're all long overdue for-"

"Ms. Davenport!"

"What?" She asked, looking shocked.

"I just wanted to know if you were including me in that 'you all.'"

Harlan and Radu hid grins at Ms. Davenports glare, and Suzee made a muffled noise through the speaker. After a moment Ms. Davenport threw her arms up in the air and walked away.

"I expect to see you all in the classroom in fifteen minutes. And by all, I mean _all_, Commander."

"Maybe you shouldn't have pushed her." Harlan said, grinning.

"Shut up, Band." The Commander growled.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four:

Grumbling, the five students and the Commander walked into the classroom.

"You're three minutes late." Ms. Davenport said. "Punctuality-"

"Oh, who cares?" Harlan interrupted. "Three minutes is no big deal!"

Ms. Davenport opened her mouth to answer, but the Commander beat her to it.

"That's not the point, Harlan."

Ms. Davenport nodded in satisfaction.

"The point is that I haven't seen Thelma, and we're all here." The Commander said. "Which means that I have one question for _you_ Ms. Davenport."

"Yes, and what's that?" Davenport asked, slightly miffed.

"Who's driving the ship?"

Ms. Davenports mouth opened, then snapped shut again.

"Well?" The Commander asked expectantly.

"Isn't the ship able to drive itself, for a while?" Davenport asked weakly.

The Commander frowned. "I have no idea, actually."

"You have no-?"

"Is there a reason I should know?"

Davenport looked baffled at that question.

"That's not to point!"

"No, I don't suppose it is." Bova said lazily. "If the spung show up and annihilate us while we're sitting here arguing, or the ship crashes into a planet, or runs into a sun, or-"

"_Alright,_ Mister Bova." Davenport said. "I see your point, Commander. Very well, _one_ of the students is dismissed from classes until Thelma is located."

"Me!" Both Suzee and Harlan said at the same time, then glared at each other. "It should be me!"

"I should go, because _I_ work the helm!" Harlan said.

"I'm not even a student, and I can work the helm just as good as you!" Suzee argued.

"You can not!"

"I can too, and _I_'m going to be the one who goes!"

Rosie raised her hand behind them and mouthed the words 'can I go' at the adults. Davenport and Goddard glanced at each other, then back at the squabbling teenagers, and nodded. Rosie smiled brightly and nodded her thanks before quickly leaving the room.

"Harlan! I"m going to be the one who goes!"

"No you aren't! I am!"

Bova nudged Radu, and said quietly, so only the andromedan could hear him, "Do you suppose we should tell them that neither of them is going?"

Radu glanced at Bova, then looked back at Suzee and Harlan. "Nah."

Bova nodded. "You're right. This is actually kind of amusing."

Radu smiled slightly.

"Oooooohhhhhhhhhh!" Thelma yelled as she was lifted off the ground. Androids were not meant for flying through the air. She had learned that much before, when she had almost floated into a black hole, and when the Gizbot was malfunctioning and ran into her. Not only were androids not meant for flying, but Thelma herself knew that _she_ was not. Therefore, she was rather confused when she was lifted by the air and thrown into a wall.

The wind in the bunkroom was fast enough and hard enough the throw the rest of the loose items in the room around as well, and several stuffed animals were currently circling the room, light enough to be lifted, but not heavy enough to fall.

"Christa!" Thelma gasped above the noise, the wind partially crushing her. "I demand that youstop this. . .right now!"

The wind showed no sign of stopping, or of slowing down.

"Did you hear me! I said stop this!" She began to inch along the side of the wall. Inside her head she suddenly felt the ships confusion, and knew that Christa wasn't the one causing this, at least not on purpose. "What is going on?" She asked.

The Christa didn't know what was going on, and that fact in itself scared her.

Thelma also knew from experience that when the ship became frightened, bad things tended to happen. Things such as flying straight into the heart of the spung empire, for existence.

"Christa, calm down." Thelma manged to say, still inching her way toward the door. "I'm sure its nothing to worry about."

With each word the ship grew slightly calmer. Thelma no longer worried about her causing a problem for the crew. She winced. The Christa resented that statement.

Though the Christa was an artificial intellignnce, and a very bright one, apparently with feelings, and an agenda, of her own, she did still need guidance almost as much as the crew did. The crew had Seth Goddard and TJ Davenport. The Christa had Thelma, and for that, she was grateful.

Just which one of them was grateful Thelma wasn't quite sure, her simulated emotions and the Christa's real ones seemed to become mixed at times. In fact, they tended to do so usually at the most inconvenient times. Such as just before the spung attacked, leaving everyone thinking that Thelma was insane because she'd acted upon the Christa's emotions. It was quite troublesome, and doubly so with her cracked memory crystal.

She couldn't remember anything before waking up on the Command Post with Harlan. Or, more acurately, she had the memories of events, but not of being there. Each event was like a painting, seen, but not truly experienced. She did know that she had had several crews before this one, though she couldn't actually recall their names or faces or voices, and she knew that once she'd been able to speak directly to the Christa and receive a reply in words that she could relay to those crews.

She grasped the edge of the door and pulled herself around the corner, falling into the corridor as soon as the door opened.

"Well, that was certainly strange." She said, and began to walk toward the Command Post. "I wonder what I missed."

While the Christa was filling her in, she stopped, sensing a lifeform in the corridor behind her. She turned curiously, and tilted her head at the creature that sat there.

"Why, hello! When did you come onboard?" She asked.

_Four days ago_.

Thelma blinked. The Christa's outer airlocks opened and closed once, as if performing her normal maintenance. Only Thelma knew that Christa had also blinked, at almost the exact same time as herself. Sometimes, it was odd to have your actions almost simultaneously performed by the ship.

Dismissing the voice in her head as a simulated figment of her emulated imagination, she smiled at the creature.

"I'm Thelma." She pronounced.

_Iianalarsska Pofalla Ni._

Thelma tipped her head.

_How about Iiana?_

Thelma grinned. "Alright, Iiana. Would you like to come with me to the Command Post?"

The feline tilted its head.

_I prefer to stay hidden._

"Promise not to cause any trouble?" Thelma asked sternly.

Iiana mewed in agreement.

"What a strange creature." She said to the Christa as she continued on her way, and she ship agreed with her fully, already accessing her memory banks for a referance to the creature. She found nothing, and that puzzled them both further. "Oh, well."

Rosie moved on the next console, checking that all the readings on that were within normal parameters.

"I wish Thelma were here, this would be so much easier."

"But I am here, Rosie." Thelma said, popping up behind her.

Rosie gave a start. "Oh, Thelma, you startled me."

"I apologize."

"It's alright. Here, help me with this?"

"Alright." Thelma agreed, moving to another console.

"Thanks." Rosie said, giving the android a grateful smile.

"So. Why are you up here all by yourself?"

"Ms. Davenport is lecturing everyone else and _someone_ has to be up here just in case. We couldn't find you."

"Oh. But wouldn't Harlan, or Suzee, have been a better choice to come up here. No offence, Rosie."

"None taken. Actually, that was what Harlan and Suzee thought." She grinned. "They were busy fighing about which of them it would be when I left."

"Did neither of them notice you?"

"Nope." Rosie said. "So, where _were_ you?"

Thelma frowned slightly at the reminder of her encounter. "I was in the girls bunkroom, along with what I believe you would call 'a tornado.'"

"A tornado? In the girls bunkroom, that's silly, Thelma."

"Silly as it may be, it _did_ happen."

"I'm supposed to go down to the classroom now that you're here, would you like me to tell the Commander?"

"Oh, yes, thank you."

Rosie nodded and slipped into the jumptube.

"A tornado? _Inside_ the ship?" Ms. Davenport said, fainting.

Bova hardly glanced at her. "Thank goodness that's over. Though I'm sure it won't last."

"That's what Thelma said." Rosie said in confirmation.

"We had a rain cloud on the Command Post." Bova stated.

The Commander nodded.

"Thelma drenched the Commander with it." Bova said. Harlan snickered, Suzee smirked, and both Radu and Rosie grinned. "While trying following his order to get rid of it."

Rosie giggled. "You should have seen that coming, Commander!"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved it off, then looked down at Ms. Davenport. "Let's get back up to the Command Post before she wakes up."

"I second the motion." Bova said, already at the jumptube. "First one to the Command Post wins! Probably gets blown up first." He added, whooshing through the tube.

Rosie ran after him. "You got a head start, Bova!" She called.

The Commander nodded absently and followed them, with Radu behind him. Suzee and Harlan made no move to follow. Radu turned to look at them.

"Aren't you guys coming?"

"In a minute." Harlan said. "You go on ahead. We'll catch up."

Radu nodded and went into the tube.

"So."

"So. That was pretty immature of us earlier, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"Was there something you wanted to talk about?" Suzee asked.

"Yeah, kinda. I didn't want to worry the others, but did you notice how strange the Christa's been acting since we left that moon?"

"Yeah. The shields almost failed earlier, the jumptubes were down, so was the food wheel. . ."

"A corridor rearranged itself so we were walking for three hours when the jumptubes were only meters apart, and something bit Radu."

"Something _bit_ him! But thats impossible, his molecular density is too great!"

"Apparently not. I think something got on the ship at that moon, and its trying to take over the ship."

"You mean like Ninestein and Pezu did?"

"Sort of."

"You said you didn't want to worry the others. So, why did you tell me?"

"Because I want your help in finding this. . .whatever it is, before it causes some unrepairable damage. Something even you can't fix."

Suzee laughed. "Oh please, there's _nothing_ I can't fix." She stopped. "Okay, so we find this thing and then. . .what?"

Harlan turned his head. "I, uh, haven't gotten that far yet."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay then. How are you planning on catching it?"

Harlan laughed. "Thats easy. C'mere, I'll show you."

Suzee hesitated. "Can you show me later. We're gonna get in trouble if we don't get to the Command Post soon."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot that. Let's go." He stopped beside the jumptube. "Ladies first."

"Why, thank you, Harlan."


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

"Rosie!" Thelma called, as soon as the girl got off the Command Post.

"Yeah?" Rosie asked.

"Would you help me with something?"

"Sure! What is it?"

"Tell me about the creature that bit Radu?" Thelma requested.

"I didn't actually see it." Rosie said doubtfully. "I think he described it as a. . .six-legged cat with a monkey's tail."

Thelma blinked. "What an interesting description."

Rosie smiled. "Yeah. He also described it as a feline with six-legs and a prehensile tail."

"Ah! That's much easier to understand!"

Rosie laughed.

"My implanted memory banks do not recognize this creature." Thelma said. "Would you like to help me search the Christa's computer?"

"Oh, you really should get Suzee or Ms. Davenport to help you with that, they're much better with computers than I am."

"Suzee is busy, I believe attempting to pull a prank with Harlan. Ms. Davenport. . .does can not help me."

"What do you mean? Sure she can!"

"No." Thelma shook her head. "The Christa does not think thats a good idea."

Rosie nodded, not really understanding.

"So, you will help me?"

"Of course!" Rosie exclaimed.

Harlan set the metal box down in the middle of the hallway, and glanced behind him.

"Do you really think the creature will fall for this?" Suzee asked doubtfully.

"It's just a wild animal, Suzee." Harlan said with his usual confident grin.

"Maybe."Suzee said. "But it might be something else."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Suzee shrugged.

"I don't know. Something that has a brain and uses it?"

Harlan was slightly too dense to see the implied insult in that statement. He nodded grudgingly and Suzee had to cough to cover a laugh.

"You alright?" Harlan asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." She said, grinning. "Do you think that's enough traps?" She looked at the long row of 'metal' boxes, each one actually a phase-through box with something akin to a mouse-trap inside of it. The box itself was just to hold the trap together.

"Yeah, I think so." He typed into his CompuPad and the boxes, and the traps inside them, disappeared. "Thank god the Lumanians developed this, at least on a small scale."

"There's no practical way to apply that to the ship, Harlan." Suzee said in a slightly patronizing voice, guessing what he was thinking. "The ship isn't uniform enough for the field to keep shape, and even if it could, all the space debris out there would render it virtually useless anyway."

Harlan made a response, but Suzee didn't hear it.

"Did you hear that?" She asked suddenly.

"You know, usually its Radu who says that." Harlan commented dryly.

"Harlan, I'm serious! Listen!"

Frowning, Harlan did as she asked.

"What the heck!" He exclaimed. "That can't be good!" He ran off in the direction of the unidentified keening sound., and Suzee followed on his heels.

Radu looked up from the navigation console. "Bova?"

"What is it now?" Bova asked in a bored tone.

"N-nothing." Radu said hesitantly.

"No, really, I'm interested." Bova said unconvincingly, turning around to look at Radu. He jumped a bit. "Radu? Your eyes. . ."

"What?" Radu asked.

"They're. . .glowing." Bova said.

"Glowing?" He reached a hand up to touch his eyelids.

"That's what I said."

"But. . .my eyes don't glow. Andromedan eyes _don't_ glow."

"They do now."

"That's impossible! Rosie-" He cut himself off there, remembering that Rosie too had mentioned his eyes, but wouldn't tell him what it was she'd seen. "It's impossible." He repeated.

"If you say so."

Radu was quiet for a moment. "So. . .what's with your hand and the Commanders head?"

"The wall did it."

"Pardon?"

"The wall did it. The Commander leaned his head against the wall, and put my hand on it. . .and they came away like this." He held up his red 'painted' hand as if to make a point.

"Oh," Was all Radu said.

"Yeah." Bova looked up again. "They stopped glowing." He reported, turning back to his console.

Radu bit his lip. _Andromedan eyes don't glow_, he thought. No andromedan had ever served on a Lumanian ship with an Earther, a Murcurian, a Uranian, a Yensidian, and only two adults before either, but that was a moot point.

"Bova, I'm going to go to the MedLab." Radu said, already in the jumptube.

"Oh, sure, leave me here all alone while you're supposed to be on duty." Bova said, rolling his eyes. It was really nothing out of the ordinary for him.

Radu exited the jumptube in the MedLab and looked around. It was the right MedLab this time, or so he thought.

"Rosie?" He called softly. "Are you here?" Recieving no reply, he sighed and sat down on one of the waiting seats. The Mercurian 'nurse' would be in soon enough.

"Ms. Davenport. . ."

"Don't you give me that!" Ms. Davenport exclaimed, pointing a finger at him angrily. "You took advantage of the fact that I fainted to steal my students during classes."

"You couldn't have taught them anything laying on the ground unconscious." Goddard pointed out.

Davenport closed her eyes and counted to ten, then opened them again. "Commander Goddard, I know for a fact that Thelma could have easily woken me."

"She could have?" The Commander asked, though it was obvious he already knew that.

"You know very well-"

"TJ, the kids were stressed out enough, they didn't need you lecturing them."

"Oh, and I suppose working on the Command Post is relaxing to them?"

"Bova went to the Galley." The Commander said blankly. Then a grin crossed his face.

Davenport stalked up to him, slapped him across the face and walked away.

"Ow." He said, gingerly touching his sore cheek. "Who knew TJ Davenport could hit that hard?"

Suddenly there was a yelp from outside the door, followed by a thud. Reasonably concerned, Goddard walked out the door.

There sat Davenport, one of her feet caught in a mouse-trap like device, with another on her left hand, where she had obviously tried to break her fall. Goddard stiffled a laugh, but Davenport caught it anyway.

"Commander, this isn't funny."

"No, it's not." Goddard said seriously. "I'm going to have to have a little chat with the students about - ow!" Walking down the corridor he'd stepped on one of the mouse-trap devices. In a clever attempt not to fall, he began jumping up and down on one foot, trying to remove the device. It was quite a comical picture. While jumping, he stepped on a second one and slipped back, landing on a third with a slightly girlish yell.

Davenport giggled. Well, giggled might not be quite the best word for a woman as old as she was, but that was the best description Goddard could think of for it.

"You think this is funny?" He asked.

Davenport pursed her lips and refused to answer.

"Still no results, Rosie." Thelma reported, watching the super-fast icons appear on the screen in the girls bunkroom. It had taken quite a while for Rosie to finish cleaning up the mess left by the tornado, and for a while Thelma had worked alone, with bits of input from the cheerful girl.

Now, though, Rosie was sitting cross-legged beside the android, who was kneeling.

"Try searching. . .six-legged feline, prehensile tail, short-furred." Rosie said thoughtfully.

"Searching." Thelma said. She tilted her head as the images scrolled. "No results."

"Ok. . .try adding 'black' to the list I just gave you."

Thelma did as much. "Searching."

Rosie stood up and started pacing the room.

"What are you doing, Rosie?" Thelma asked.

"Hmm. . .oh, I'm pacing. I'm just bored, that's all."

"Oh. If you would like, we can take a break for now, and try again later?"

"Sure! Thanks, Thelma, you're the best!" She disappeared down the jumptubes.

"I'm. . .the best?" Thelma asked out loud, then shrugged.

The Christa informed her of a wall segment that needed to be re-stabilized, and she shuffled off to do so, leaving the screen still scrolling through images.

_Hello, Thelma._

Thelma turned, slightly startled.

"Oh, it is you. Hello, Iiana." She said, one of her fingers turning into a stabilizing device. She began running it over the veins of the wall, which crawled slowly.

The creature looked at the wall, then back at Thelma, tipping its head slightly.

"I'm stabilizing the wall, so it doesn't start to leak." Thelma explained.

_You're trying to find out what I am._

"Yes. You are a puzzle to me."

_Give up now._

With that, Iiana turned and padded away.

"Well, that was odd." Thelma said, and felt the Christa's agreement.

Rosie landed in the MedLab and saw Radu sitting in one of the waiting chairs.

"Oh, Radu!" She said. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you." He said.

"Oh. Why?"

"Because I need you to scan me again." He paused. "Bova said my eyes were glowing."

Rosie laughed nervously.

"That's what you saw earlier, isn't it?"

She nodded, and smiled sheepishly, lifting the Macro-Scanner from its usual place and moving it across Radu's face. She glanced at it.

"Everything is normal. No abnormal tissue growths, nothing." She said, more to herself than to Radu, though she knew he could hear her. "Nothing that would give any reason for phosphoreus irises. Nothing at all." She looded up. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"Try it with the Micro-Scanner." He pressed.

"Alright, if you say so." She did as he asked, then looked at the readout. "That's odd. . ."

"What? What is it?"

"I don't know. . .I'll have to run a few tests to be sure. . ."

"What do you think it is?"

She looked at him. "To be honest with you, Radu, I have no idea. It _looks_ like the neural networks in your brain are being re-written. I don't see how that could affect your eyes, but I suppose it might. I'll need Bova's help though."

"He's off duty in about an hour. I should be up there with him."

"Then go and finish your shift, then come back here with him afterwards."

"You sure that's alright?"

"I don't see why not." She shrugged. "I'm going to run these readings through the Christa's library while you're gone." She gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Radu, I'm sure its nothing!"

He nodded, unconvinced, and headed up to the Command Post.

Having finally detangled themselves from the 'mouse-traps', and from each other (don't ask), Davenport and Goddard stood up and looked around.

"This is ridiculous." Goddard said. "How are we supposed to go anywhere if we don't know if we'll be stepping in another of those traps?"

"I suppose we don't go anywhere, then." Davenport said. "Or we use the jumptubes. Your choice."

"Let's go try the jumptubes." He said, taking a step towards the door. He stared at the ground cautiously.

"Oh, go already!" Davenport exclaimed, pushing past him. Goddard fell back and landed on another of the traps with a disgraceful yelp. "Sorry! So, sorry! It was an accident!"

"Some accident." The Commander growled, glaring up at her.

"Some of the traps have gone off!" Harlan exclaimed, looking at his CompuPad and stopping.

Suzee stopped as well, and checked hers. "Yeah, too many." She said, her voice dropping. "Where are the Commander and Ms. Davenport?"

"Oh, no!" Harlan moaned. "Now we're gonna get it."

The keening sound they'd been going after was completely forgotten.

"This was the stupidest thing I've ever done." Suzee said.

_You've done worse._

Suzee turned cautiously, and seeing nothing, followed Harlan down the hallway. Harlan laughed.

"I'm not sure it's the _stupidest_. . ." He said. "Maybe just the least practical."

"You're right." She said. He grinned proudly. "Listening to you was the stupidest thing I've ever done." His face fell. She laughed. "You know, you're kinda cute when you do that."

"Really?" He said, smirking.

"Yes, really." She said. "Now then, about the Commander and Ms. Davenport?"

"Right." He sped up, in the direction of the classroom.

"Just so you know," She informed him. "I'm telling the Commander that this was all _your_ idea."

"Just so I know." He repeated. She nodded. "Well, just so _you_ know, I'm telling him it was yours."

"Hmm," Suzee said, "My word against yours. . .I wonder who they'll listen to?"

The sarcasm wasn't lost on Harlan.

Carefully avoiding the remaining traps, they crossed the rest of the distance to the classroom in silence. Harlan was the first one there, Suzee only inches behind him. Entering the room, he found the Commander and Ms. Davenport in a very. . .questionable, position. Namely, the Commander was practically laying on top of Ms. Davenport.

"Well, well, Commander." He chuckled.

"Band! It's not what it looks like!"

"Heavens no!" Davenport exclaimed. "The Commander fell on top of one of those traps I'm assuming you had something to do with."

"We might have." Harlan said vaguely. "So, what _is_ this?"

"She tried to help me up. We fell." The Commander said flatly.

"You haven't moved yet." Suzee pointed out.

Both the Commander and Ms. Davenport blushed slightly as they seperated quickly. Both Harlan and Suzee snickered.

"If only you two could see your faces." Harlan laughed.

Suzee elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hey! What was that for?"

Suzee ignored him.

"So, are you two ok?" She asked.

"We're fine, dear." Ms. Davenport said.

"I"m a bit concerned with why you were setting traps on the ship." The Commander said pointedly.

"We were, uh, trying to catch the thing that bit Radu." Harlan said.

"And did _occur_ to you that if this thing could pierce Radu's andromedan skin, it could do much worse to _you_?" The Commander asked. He sighed. "I can see from your faces you didn't. What were you planning on doing with this thing once you caught it anyway?"

"Uh, we hadn't, uh, gotten to that part of the plan yet."

The Commander stared at them as if they had both gone insane.


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six:

Rosie set the Macro-Scanner down, and typed into her CompuPad. Before setting it down, she checked the time.

"Radu should be showing up pretty soon." She said to herself. The whoosh of the jumptubes made her turn. "Oh, hi Radu, hi Bova!"

"Hi Rosie." Radu said.

Bova nodded.

"Come looked at this, Bova?" She requested, pointing to the scan.

Bova sighed and did so. "What the-?"

"Isn't it strange?" Rosie asked. "Its like his brain is-"

"Being re-written." Bova cut in, actually sounding interested. "Here. . .and here. . ." He pointed to two spots on the screen.

Rosie nodded. "There are notes on the CompuPad about what I've done so far. Radu, sit down, I want to try scanning you again."

Radu nodded and sat down. "Do you know what's causing this?" He asked.

"Not without more scans." Bova said, not looking away from the CompuPad. "But I'll bet it was the creature."

Rosie rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't jump to conclusions like that, Bova. It's probably nothing." She moved the MicroScanner over Radu's head.

"Oh, _yeah_," Bova said. "Radu's brain is being re-written and it's _nothing_."

"Guys? Can you tell me what you're talking about?"

Rosie laughed. "Don't worry." She said. "I told you earlier, the neurons in your brain-"

"It's not just that." Bova interrupted.

Rosie turned. "What do you mean?"

"Look at this new scan." He said.

Rosie set the MicroScanner down and moved to stand beside Bova.

"You're right." She said. "It's his whole nervous system!" She studied the scan curiously. "There, that could be causing his eyes to glow. I suppose." She pointed.

Some of the nerves attached to his eyes had changed.

"I don't understand, though." Bova said. "Nothing should be able to change persons brain like that. At least nothing current medical studies know about. Not that we know much about this thing that bit him, of course."

Rosie gave him a mock glare.

"We don't even know that the creature is responsible for this. . .whatever, do we?" Radu asked.

"No." Rosie said. "And there are no signs of whatever toxin it was in your blood."

"I hardly think the toxin would need to stay around if it had already done enough damage." Bova said dryly. "I'd consider this enough.""

Rosie frowned thoughtfully. "That makes sense." She said finally. She lifted the MacroScanner. "I'm going to scan you again, to see if this. . .re-writing, is happening anywhere else." She explained at Radu's curious glance. Radu nodded.

"I can't believe the Commander is making us get rid of _all_ the traps." Harlan complained for the thirteenth time.

"Oh, just do it, Harlan." Suzee said, rolling her eyes. She deactivated and picked up one of the traps. All were now quite visible.

"I am, I am!" Harlan protested.

"I'm going to kill you when this is over." Suzee said.

Harlan glanced over at her nervously.

"Commander, I _demand_ that you give those children a stricter punishment!"

"You only got caught in one of those traps. I got caught in four." The Commander said, almost patronizingly. "I really don't think you have any right to demand-"

"It's the principle!" Davenport cut in.

The Commander chuckled.

"Commander!" She stomped her foot.

Suddenly a high-pitched soundwave rippled through the air, knocking them both off their feet. The Commander looked down at Davenport.

"It appears the ship wants us to stay like this."

"Commander!"

He laughed and helped her up.

"That was almost like one of Catalina's sonic-screams." Davenport said after a moment.

"Yeah, it kinda was." The Commander agreed. "But Cat's in Suzee's dimension now."

"So, then, what was it?" Davenport asked nervously.

"I don't know." The Commander said. "Thelma?"

"Yes, Commander?" Thelma said. Both the Commander and Ms. Davenport jumped.

"What was that?"

"What was what, Commander?" Thelma asked

"That. . .shockwave, or whatever it was!" Ms. Davenport exclaimed.

"Oh! The Christa's hyperdrive engine emitted a sonic pulse." Thelma exclaimed. "It has reached every part of the ship now."

"Did it damage anything?"

"I do not know. Running shipwide diagnostic." She closed her eyes and began making computer-like beeps and whirrs. After a couple of minutes she opened her eyes again. "Diagnostic complete. No primary systems were damaged by the pulse. However, we will not be able to make a hyperjump for one hour, three minutes and-"

"Thank you, Thelma."

"Seventeen seconds. You're welcome!"

The Commander sighed.

Harlan fell over at the pulse, landing on his side on top of one of the traps.

"Harlan! Are you alright?" Suzee exclaimed.

"I'm - ah, ah, ow! - I'll be fine!" He tried to pull the trap off and caught his finger in it. "Oww!"

"Harlan!" Suzee shouted, crawling to him. "Oh, what did you do now?" She saw the trap attached to both his side and finger. She began to pry at the trap until it came off. "Okay, let's see." She demanded.

Gingerly, Harlan held out his hand. His previously trapped finger was bleeding.

"Is it bad?" He asked.

"I don't really know. I'm an engineering genius, not a doctor. Let's get you to the MedLab."

"Yeah, alright." Harlan agreed.

Suzee punched in the code and followed Harlan into the jumptube.


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven:

Radu had had left a few minutes before, leaving Rosie and Bova to work with their scans. Bova was sitting at a table that had folded out of the wall, actually working on comparing each scan to the one before it. Rosie sat on the floor with a CompuPad in her hand, attempting to find the creature that had bit Radu. Since it was their only lead on what was happening to him, Bova didn't complain, though he did say that she was wasting her time. Very often.

"What's pointless?" Suzee asked, as she and Harlan came out of the jumptubes.

Rosie looked up. "Harlan! What happened!" She exclaimed.

"Traps." Harlan muttered. "Is it bad?"

Rosie examined the wound. "No, it's not deep. Hasn't hit any veins. You'll be fine, once you wash it up and bandage it." She set the CompuPad down and half-dragged him over to the sink. Suzee idly picked the CompuPad up and glanced at ti.

"What are you looking for?"

"The creature that bit Radu." Rosie said, adding a description to it.

Suzee dropped the CompuPad. "He's right, it's pointless." She said dully.

"What, why?"

Suzee looked over at her. "Because the Christa won't have any information on a Yensidian animal."

"A Yensidian animal?" Bova asked. "From your dimension?"

Suzee nodded her head.

"How did it get here?"

"I have no idea. I thought I was imagining it." Suzee said.

"You mean you saw it too?" Rosie asked excitedly.

"Yeah. But I thought it was a hallucination."

"Well, thats great then!" Rosie said.

"How so?" Suzee asked.

"Well, if its Yensidian, you can tell us how the toxin is supposed to work!"

"Toxin? Its not. . .people keep them as pets sometimes!" She shook her head. "They're like. . . squirrels on earth, they aren't dangerous!"

"You're forgetting that squirrels on earth used to carry diseases like rabies." Bova said.

Rosie ignored him.

"If this creature. . ."

"Jeisal. We call the creatures Jeisals."

"If this Jeisal isn't changing Radu, what is?" She finished wrapping the bandage around Harlans finger.

"Changing him how?"

Bova pointed to the scans and Suzee moved to look over his shoulder, her eyes widening.

"What is it, Suz?" Harlan asked.

"This is impossible!" She exclaimed suddenly.

"What is?" Rosie asked.

Suzee motioned impatiently to the scans.

_Apparently its not._

Suzee turned to look around.

"It's here somewhere." She said.

"How do you know?" Bova asked.

Suzee shrugged. "Unlike the squirrels of earth. . .the Jeisal is _slightly_ telepathic."

_Slightly?_

Suzee laughed sheepishly. "Well, a bit more than _slightly._"

"So, it's talking to you?" Rosie asked.

"Sorta, yeah." She shrugged, looking around. "Where are you. . .?" She muttered.

_You won't find me._

She frowned.

"Ok, then." Bova said skeptically. "Back to the scans of Radu."

"Right." Suzee said. "I have a theory."

"What is it?" Bova asked.

"May I?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"You might as well." Bova said, handing her the CompuPad. "It's not like I was _using_ that or anything."

"Great. Thanks." Suzee said distractedly, typing into it. "Screen on."

A portion of the wall swirled to reveal two scans, side my side.

"The first one is Radu's most current scan." She said. "And the second one is mine, from when I first boarded the ship."

There were remarkable similarities between the two scans.

"And that's just of our brains. I think if you look, say, at our retinal scans. . ." She typed into the CompuPad and the screen changed. The nerves leading to the eyes, on both sides of the screen, were attached in the same ways, and there was an extra nerve in both, though Radu's wasn't completely attached. "The first is Radu's, again from the current scan. The second is what was recorded when I went into Thelma's mind."

"You mean from when your eyes glowed." Rosie said. "That explains it!"

"So, if this extra nerve _was_ attached?" Bova asked.

"Theoretically, Radu's eyes would glow. Not quite like mine, since he isn't Yensidian, but they'd glow. I'm guessing that soon he'll start to develop gills as well."

"Let me guess, his hair will change colors too?" Bova said skeptically.

"No, only the female Yensidians have multi-colored hair." Suzee said.

"Wait." Rosie interrupted. "You two are saying that Radu is turning into. . ."

"Me." Suzee said. "Or at least, a male version of me. One of my people." She amended.

_Very good._

"Oh, shut up." She muttered.

Bova and Rosie looked at her.

"The Jeisal." She explained.

"Oh."

"So, is there any way to _stop_ Radu from turning into. . .you?" Rosie asked.

"I doubt it." Bova said.

"I don't know." Suzee admitted. "There are no non-Yensidians in my dimension, this has never happened to anyone before."

"Well, it must have. Maybe a long time ago, that's how your people evolved." Rosie suggested.

Suzee didn't answer.

Harlan disappeared into the jumptubes, the other three not even noticing he had gone.

_Radu's gonna go ballistic when he hears this!_ He thought.

"I'm _WHAT?_"

"Whoa! Calm down now, big guy." Harlan said. "I don't see what the problem is. You'll be able to breath in any atmosphere, and jump into peoples minds. I wouldn't mind-"

"I'm not you!"

Harlan chuckled. "No. I guess you're not."

"I'm not even sure I'm _me_ anymore." He said helplessly.

"Hey, aren't you the one who said, 'its not what you are, its who you are?' I coulda sworn you-"

Radu laughed.

"I did say that, didn't I?" He said. "I'd forgotten. Thanks, Harlan."

"Anytime. Here, why don't you go down to the MedLab and talk to Rosie, Bova and Suzee, I'll cover for you."

"Are you sure?"

Harlan rubbed his hands together in answer, and Radu nodded gratefully, slipping into the jumptubes. Harlan shook his head at the retreating Andromedan.

"Good luck."

He might or might not have imagined the faint 'I heard that' he heard coming from the jumptube, he laughed just the same.

The Christa constantly relayed to Thelma everything that was said inside her walls. One bit of news surprised both android and ship, though.

The strange creature that had called itself Iiana.

_Iianalarsska Pofalla Ni._

Thelma turned.

"Oh, hello Iiana." She said brightly.

_You shouldn't have tried to find out what I was._

Thelma tilted her head, attempting to puzzle out that statement. She shrugged finally and continued with her repairs.

_You shouldn't ignore a Jeisal when it speaks to you._

"I am not ignoring you, Iiana."

_You would have been nice to keep around._

"What. . .do you mean?"

_It's a shame you couldn't learn fast enough._

"Iiana?" Thelma turned to look at the creature. Just then a red flash seemed to fall down the walls, almost like a waterfall. "How odd!"

Iiana's eyes began to glow.

"What are you doing, Iiana?" Thelma asked curiously, tipping her head.

_What cannot adapt, must be destroyed._

Thelma felt the Christa's worry before her memory crystal popped out and clattered to the ground a few feet away._ Oh, how troublesome, _she thought as her eyes closed and she fell forward.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight:

Ms. TJ Davenport sat in her classroom, using her CompuPad to look through the Christa's library for something to teach her students in her next lesson that might interest them. It was a much harder task than she'd first though. She didn't understand _why_ her students couldn't agree on what they enjoyed.

Finally, with a sigh, she gave up and set the CompuPad down.

_Theresa._

She looked around the room nervously.

_Theresa._

She stood up and looked around again.

"Thelma?"

_She won't answer._

"Thelma?" Davenport called again, moving closer to the door in an attempt to escape. The door didn't open as it was supposed to.

_Did you really think that would work?_

"W-who are you?" She asked, assuming that one of the students had tapped into the Christa's communications to frighten her. "Th-this isn't funny!"

_It isn't supposed to be._

"What do you want with me!" She shrieked. Receiveing no answer she began inching her way towards the jumptubes.

_That won't work either._

Ms. Davenport didn't acknowledge the statement. She moved closer to the jumptubes, and punched in a random code.

_Theresa, I don't want to hurt you._

Ms. Davenport looked over her shoulder nervously and jumped headfirst into the jumptube.

_You think you can escape?_

Davenport screamed, both in fear of the voice, and because she was whooshing through the jumptubes incredibly fast, with no idea where she was actually going.

Suddenly she jerked to a stop, just at the bottom, and tumbled out.

"Ms. Davenport?"

She looked up at Harlan.

"You alright?"

She nodded and stood up.

"So. . .do I want to know why you decided to ride the jumptubes head first?" He asked with a laugh.

"It. . .it was chasing me!"

Harlan frowned. "What was chasing you?"

"I don't _know_!" She said, beginning to wring her hands. "It was talking to me in my head!"

Harlan thought about that for a moment.

"Don't panic, Ms. D., I have an idea. Let's go down to the MedLab."

"W-why would be do that?"

"Because Suzee thinks this thing on board is a telepathic squirrel from her dimension."

"A telepathic _squirrel_?"

"Uh, yeah. C'mon." He motioned to the jumptube. "Thelma?"

There was no answer.

"She didn't answer me either." Ms. Davenport said. "Do you suppose she's in trouble?"

"Thelma, in trouble? Nah, no way!" He paused. "You go down to the MedLab and talk to Suzee, I'm going to go look for Thelma."

"Are. . .are you sure thats the wisest course of action?"

Harlan sighed. "Alright, how about if I stay here, and call the Commander and have _him _search for Thelma?" He suggested.

Ms. Davenport nodded. "Good idea, Harlan." She turned back to the jumptubes and slid in.

The Commander was _not_ a happy man. On top of all the other problems the ship had been having as of late, now the only 'person' who could fix most of them was AWOL.

He wandered the halls basically aimlessly, calling Thelma's name every few seconds in hopes that she'd hear him, but it was basically useless. He didn't understand _how_ Thelma could go missing. She was a vital part of the ship, completely connected to and in tune with her systems. Yet, she couldn't be found anywhere.

The Christa herself was puzzled as to where the android was. She had turned her attention away from her for a few seconds to check one of her ion collectors, and when she'd gone back, she hadn't been able to find her. She'd gone through the entire ship deck by deck, searching for Thelma's distinctive mental print, but had been unable to find anything. She hadn't been able to contact her, either, and it was beginning to frighten the ship.

In one corridor, the walls flashed red again, and the temperature rose another ten degrees. The Christa registered this fact, but dismissed it as unimportant. The only important thing was finding her sole companion, and that didn't involve her systems. None of the crew were near that particular corridor, so it didn't concern their safety, and was therefore safe to dismiss.

Christa also registered that the man named Goddard, one of the two she hadn't bonded with, was also searching for Thelma. She didn't discard that bit of information, it might lead to something, and began to track his progress. Maybe he would have better luck than she had. She idly wondered why only one of the crew was on the Command Post, while the rest were in the MedLab. She did a quick scan and found that none of them were sick. One of the crew _was_ changing, however. That fact puzzled her, and frightened her a little bit more.

"You're sure thats everything?" Suzee asked Ms. Davenport when she'd finished.

"Yes. Quite sure."

Suzee pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"What is it, Suzee?" Rosie asked.

"Probably means this Jeisal thing wants to kill us or something." Bova added.

Suzee, Radu, and Davenport gave him a look that said that that was _not_ helping in the least, and he shrugged indifferently.

"Ms. Davenport, if the Jeisal contacts you again. . ." Suzee began.

Davenport looked frightened.

"_If_ it does, I want you to ask it a question for me."

"A-alright. I suppose I can do that."

"I want you to ask it what its mothers name is. And then I want you to find me and tell me, without talking to it again."

"A-alright, Suzee." Davenport agreed, too shaken up to argue.

"I don't see any reason you need to stay here, then." Suzee concluded. "And I don't like the idea of either the Commander or Harlan being left alone with the Jeisal on board."

"I'll go look for the Commander." Davenport suggested.

"Good idea."

Suzee turned back to her CompuPad. Then she glanced up. Davenport had gone, but Bova and Rosie were still sitting there.

"One of you go keep Harlan company." She directed.

Bova looked up at her.

"You're the scientific one, Bova." Rosie said. "You stay and help Suzee." Without waiting for a response, she hopped into the jumptube.

"Of course." Bova said, rolling his eyes.

Harlan jumped as the jumptubes whooshed. He glanced over and saw that it was only Rosie.

"Oh, hi Rosie." He said.

"Hi! I'm here to keep you company cuz' Suzee says none of us should be alone with the Jeisal onboard. I think she's just being silly, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious, I guess." She said it so fast Harlan couldn't cut in.

He blinked when she was finished.

"Alrighty then." He said finally. "Why don't you take turns using your station and Bova's?"

"Okay!" She moved to one of the stations.

"Thelma?" Ms. Davenport called, then berated herself. The Commander was looking for Thelma because she was missing. Therefore, if Thelma was missing, she couldn't call her and ask where the Commander was. It was really quite simple, but Ms. Davenports nerves were rather frazzled.

_Theresa._

"Not again." She said quietly. Then she remembered what Suzee had said.

_My mothers name? Why would the girl want to know that?_

Davenport looked around frantically.

_You won't find me._

Almost as if the Christa were helping her, she spotted a jumptube and ran for it.

_Do you think I'm going to chase you?_

Davenport didn't stop running.

_Tell the girl my mothers name was Niandralarsska Pofalla Ni._

Without acknowledging the Jeisal, Davenport jumped into the jumptube, dialing the MedLab almost without pausing. The problem with dialing by this method is that a person will most likely not get the desired result. For example, Ms. Davenport thought to go to the MebLab. She ended up in the Landing Bay.

Perhaps it was fortunate that she did, because she saw the thin but growing layer of snow covering the Starlings. Her jaw dropped, not the most intelligent decision, considering that it was snowing inside, and she was in the middle of running away from a potentially dangerous creature.

She realized this fact after staring for several minutes, at which point she snapped her jaw shut, punched in the code for the MedLab, and left the Landing Bay.

"Suzee?" Radu asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked, half-turning without really looking away from the CompuPad.

"If. . .if you can't find some way to revert this. . ."

"We'll find a way." Suzee said. "I promise." She held up the CompuPad. "See, I'm working on a theory right now. If we were to move. . ."

He waved it away, and she seemed to understand that he probably wouldn't understand it if she showed him anyway. She typed another something into the CompuPad.

"Suzee, come help me with this." Bova said. "Though I'm sure it will be wrong anyway."

"What is it?"

"A timeline of the changes that are going to be happening to Radu. If you know them, and I'm almost certain you don't."

"You're right." She dead-panned, looking down at the CompuPad Bova was holding. "But I know more than you do. Gimme."

Bova rolled his eyes and surrendered his CompuPad.

"Look over this while you're not busy." Suzee said, going back into thought as she added to the timeline. A projection of the time it would take Radu to completely become Yensidian was probably a reasonable failsafe. Leave it to Bova to think of that while she was working on a cure.

She crossed to room without looking up and sat down again.

Iianalarsska Pofalla Ni was patient, as far as Jeisal's went. She had a plan, she just needed the time to act upon it. She also needed pawns, and besides the boy she had decided to Transform, she hadn't been able to find one.

The android had seemed like a good choice at first, but she was too stupid to learn simple things. She didn't understand enough of humans to understand adaptation yet. It really was a shame to have to deactivate her, but it couldn't be helped.

She had also thought that the older woman, Theresa, might be able to adapt, but she was too old. She was too set in her ways, too inflexible, too frightened, to be of any use. So Iiana had let her go. At least temporarily.

The girl wasn't an option, she knew too much to begin with. Her kind never showed enough respect, never had, and this one was no exception. Iiana was fairly curious as to how one of those people had arrived here, of all places, but since there was nothing she could do about it, the answer didn't really matter to her.

The older boy didn't respect the authority of his own kind, therefore there was no reason for Iiana to believe he might respect hers. There was another option wasted.

The man would never be her pawn and she knew it. He was her enemy, the one she had to defeat.

Perhaps the younger children could be persuaded to help her. One was fatalistic, which might add to her threats, or make them moot, something she didn't feel like risking at the moment. That disqualified the young boy.

The young girl, she might be persuaded, with time. She was kind, probably too kind for her own good, and naive. Iiana was not above using that naivete to her advantage. However, the girl was seldom alone. Which would only make the job harder, not impossible.

The ship herself seemed to be fighting her, perhaps an allergy? She had never heard of such a thing before, but she had never been to this universe before either. Perhaps a ship that lived and felt could get sick as well. It was a possibility, she conceded. It would make her job that much more difficult.

Iianalarsska Pofalla Ni was patient enough to wait.


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine:  
Commander Seth Goddard was not as patient as Iiana. He wanted to find Thelma quickly and get back to the Command Post where he belonged. Either there or to his room, either would do for him at this point. He was exausted beyond reason, especially for only having searched four decks. He should have been able to keep searching for hours more.  
Finally, with a sigh, he gave into his fatigue, albeit momentarily, and sat down plumb in the middle of a corridor.  
The Christa's mind was still working however, and she didn't like her searcher doing nothing. She knew beyond a doubt that she couldn't find Thelma without this unbonded human's help. It was unfortunate that she was unable to speak to them directly, even though Thelma, when she was around, direct communication was impossible.  
It was really more faulty wiring than anything else. Her Lumanian creators had been careless, there was nothing more to it than that, and nothing she could do about it either. Which meant that she had to use much more subtle ways of telling the Commander to get up and keep moving.  
She idly considered jerking the ship and knocking him over, but that would cause problems all over the ship, and besides which he might take that the wrong way. It wouldn't be in her interests to have him run to the Command Post thinking there was an emergency.  
In one portion of the ship, the walls seemed to flash red again and the temperature rose by almost ten degrees. The Christa registered this before noting more than one thing amiss. That section of the ship had been heating up at a steady interval for at least several minutes, for one thing. There was something suspicious about a corridor that heated without her order or permission. It seemed her environmental systems were beyond her control, and had been since the Jeisal had come aboard.  
Subtle, she reminded herself, sending a faint electrical charge through the floor of the corridor the Commander was sitting in. Not a dangerous charge, hardly even noticable, in fact, yet just enough to make Goddard rise. She changed the artificial gravity next, making it just slightly lighter, so that when he jumped at the next electrical charge, he didn't come down right away.  
She decided that it might be best for him to check on the strange heat anomaly in her corridor, and quickly maneuvered herself so that he floated into one of the jumptubes before restoring gravity.  
Convinced that that had been subtle enough, she momentarily turned her attention to her non-voluntary systems, making certain that life-support was still set correctly, that now that she had finished her act gravity was constant thoughout the ship, and that no primary systems were malfunctioning. Noting that all systems were operational, she turned her attention back to her little unbonded searcher.

"Niandra. . ." Suzee mused. "Thats the important part."  
"Why?" Bova asked. "I don't see how a name helps at all."  
"The Jeisal are a highly developed breed of animal, almost as intelligent as the Yensidians. Their social structure is important, Bova. Larsska, theres the family name. Whatever this Jeisals name, it will be whatever-larsska. Pofalla Ni. . .clan and district. Which means I know where its from, but Niandra is the important part."  
"I don't follow." Ms. Davenport said, wringing her hands, something she hadn't been able to stop doing for the past ten minutes.  
"When a female Jeisal has a child, whatever her name was changes to whatever the child wishes to call its mother. Only the firstborn can call mother by name, so the fact that this one knows its mothers name at all means its fairly important. But niandra. . .I should know this." She shrugged. "Its part of the language our ancestors used to speak, mostly the Jeisal still use it."  
"I still don't see how it matters." Bova said.  
"It matters," Suzee said. "Because I believe that this Jeisal is mad."  
"Mad?" Radu asked. "As in crazy?"  
"As in complete psychological screw up, probably from birth. And what it calls its mother is important because if it's a respectful term then that assumption is false and it can be reasoned with."  
"And if its not respectful?" Ms. Davenport practically screamed.  
Suzee shrugged.  
"Then we die." Bova said.  
Suzee shot him a look that told him discreetly that he wasn't helping. "Possibly." She admitted after a second. "Or we kill it."  
Ms. Davenport fainted, as per usual.  
"So, niandra means. . .?" Bova asked.  
Suzee sighed. "I don't know. It should come to me."  
"Probably too late, and then we'll all die."  
Suzee rolled her eyes and continued to work.

Goddard grunted as he fell out of the jumptubes hard and rolled a few feet away. What had gotten into the ship lately? Oh well, he thought. It was probably just another malfunction anyway. Without Thelma around there would probably be more and more cropping up, which was just another reason to find her as quickly as possible. He eased himself to his feet gently, rubbing his head. Malfunction or not, falling out of the jumptubes hurt.  
He glanced around the corridor he was in and noted that it was one he hadn't searched yet, then sighed. Maybe it wasn't a malfunction after all.  
"You want me to search around here, Christa?" He mused idly, then shrugged.  
There might be some logic in the sentient ship after all, though he didn't like the way she acted on it. Couldn't she have been a bit more subtle than to drop him out of a jumptube?  
With a sigh, he started walking.

Iianalarsska Pofalla Ni wrapped her tail around her shoulders and lay her head down in the small nest she had created in the cargo bay. The girl was far more intelligent than she'd given her credit for, though she admitted it grudginly. They younger boy might even be as intelligent as the girl, which meant she might have a problem in the future.  
So, I'm insane, am I, girl?  
She almost laughed when the girl jumped.  
Did you think I'd just left?  
The girl didn't. That was a comfort, Iiana supposed, she wasn't forgotten. If she could be in the middle of the crisis she had created.  
The others will think you're insane if you keep speaking aloud to me. Shut up and listen.  
She waited a moment for her words to register, and when the girl reluctantly quieted down and at least appeared to be listening, she nodded.  
First, I am neither insane nor unreasonable. Don't respond, girl, I'm not finished yet. Second, niandra is the word for the full spectrum of color. You may respond now, mentally.  
When the girl made no move to do so, Iiana sighed and turned her attention to the other parts of the ship. So, the older man was searching for the android she'd deactivated, and he was actually close to finding her. While Iiana had expected this, she hadn't expected it to be so soon.  
Perhaps the ship herself was more intelligent that Iiana had predicted. It would mean a complete redesigning of her plans. Probably just a fluke anyway, she decided, dismissing the fact after a moment. There was no way the ship could be a match for her.

Rosie looked up from the console she was standing in front of.  
"Everythings fine here too, Harlan." She reported.  
"Great." Harlan said. "Which means there's no reason we should have moved like that."  
"We didn't hit anything, and we're back on course now, aren't we?"  
"Well, yeah, but that's not the point."  
"It was nothing." Rosie insisted. "Probably just another malfunction, and its fixed now."  
"Yeah, yeah." Harlan waved it off. "I still don't like it."  
Rosie didn't answer.

Suzee glanced up from her CompuPad for the third time and looked around suspiciously.  
"Are you looking for the Jeisal?" Radu asked.  
"Yeah." She admitted. "Even though I know it's not here." She shrugged, the stood and walked over to Bova. "Here, I finished the timeline."  
He looked up at her.  
"It's probably wrong." He said after a second. "Here. This is yours." He handed her CompuPad back to her. "It's a great approach, actually, but it's not practical."  
"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.  
"I mean it's not practical. There's no way you could do surgury that extensive using the Christa's instruments."  
"I don't mean to use the Christa's instruments." Suzee informed him, crossing the room and sitting down again. "I mean to use the Christa's transformation powers, and my own telepathic ones."  
"In combination?" Bova asked.  
"Simultaneously." Suzee said, nodding.  
Bova considered it for a moment. "It won't work."  
"Why not?" Suzee asked.  
"The Christa's transformation powers will combine you if you're in his head while its working."  
"So one at a time." Suzee sighed. "Fine. Which one should go first?"  
Bova rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me."  
Suzee glared at him, not that it had any effect, before looking back at the CompuPad in her hand and beginning to work.

The Commander turned a corner and stopped dead. The walls were red, and glowing faintly, he could feel the heat up ahead.  
In the middle of the corridor lay Thelma, seemingly inactive.  
"Thelma?" He called, and sighed when she remained unresponsive. "Of course."  
He took a step into the corridor and jumped back. He'd forgotten that it would probably be hot there. He glanced around for a way to get to Thelma and found nothing. What he did find was a blue crystal, laying in the corridor just in front of the glowing section.  
He knelt and picked it up, turning it over in his hand. He identified it as Thelma's before finding the crack that would have proved it.  
"Now, how am I supposed to get her out of there?" He mused, then snapped his fingers. "Rosie!"  
He began to look around for a microphone, after all, there had to be one somewhere near here.  
The Christa was satisfied that her unbonded searcher had found Thelma. But she was also worried about how long the android could survive in that heat before her more delicate circuitry melted together and became irreparable, even to her engineer.  
How she could have missed the fact that Thelma was here escaped her, she should have felt Thelma's deactivation the moment it happened. The fact that she hadn't was another part of her strange condition. She was losing control of her systems. Nothing vital, yet, and nothing that was dangerous to the crew, but it was frustrating.  
She agreed that Rosie was the only way to get Thelma out of the corridor. Only the young mercurian nurse could withstand the temperature there, but if it kept rising at the rate it was, even she wouldn't be able to in the time it would take the Commander to contact her and instruct her.  
Well, her subtle communication had worked before, she decided.


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten:  
Reminding herself to be subtle, the Christa reduced the gravity in the Command Post to one-fifth what it had been and let a loud whistle out from her speaker.  
When both Harlan and Rosie jumped she began her maneuvering, and continued until Rosie slid into the jumptubes. She waited for the shouting Harlan to land safely on the ground before returning the gravity to normal. She did care for her crew, after all.  
She turned her attention back to the corridor where her deactivated android lay.

"Oomph!" Rosie shouted as she landed, just barely on her feet.  
The Commander walked around the corner curiously. "Rosie? I was just trying to call you. What are you doing here?"  
"I don't know. The ship went crazy and threw me into the jumptubes."  
"Hmm, she did the same thing to me. I think its her way of saying you need to be here. Anyway, I'm glad you are, come on." He led her around the corner.  
"Thelma!" Rosie excaimed. "What's wrong with her?" She asked the Commander.  
He looked down at her and held up the crystal. "She was like this when I found her. Its too hot in there for me to go get her."  
"If we don't get her out soon she'll melt!"  
"I know." He frowned. "Can you go in and drag her out?"  
Rosie smiled. "Of course I can." She removed her headband and stepped into the corridor.

"There. Look this over, Bova." Suzee said, tossing the CompuPad. Bova didn't look up and it bounced off his head.  
"Ow." He monotoned. He bent to retrieve the fallen pad.  
Suzee rolled her eyes. "Hurry up already."  
Bova sighed and scrolled through the information.  
"If the Christa cooperates, and I doubt she will, it might work."  
"But there's a chance?"  
Bova hesitated. "Yes. But a very small one."  
"Good enough." Suzee said. "Radu?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I want you to go get something to eat, whatever, and come back in an hour. I'll be ready for the surgery then."  
"Alright." He slid into the jumptubes.  
"Ms. Davenport, you can go too. If you want to look for the Commander or whatever." Suzee shrugged. "We don't really need you here, and you'll probably be safer from the Jeisal away from me. Not that its dangerous, but it might show up more around me because I'm Yensidian."  
Davenport nodded weakly and left.  
Suzee waited until they had left before turning back to Bova.  
"How small a chance?" She asked.  
He looked up at her. "Theres a one in one hundred chance." He told her seriously. "With no side effects. Three in one without ill effects."  
"Thats only a four percent chance of success!"  
"Yes."  
"You weren't kidding when you said very small."  
He simply looked at her.  
"Of course you weren't." She sighed. "By ill effects. . .?"  
"Scarring, psychological damage, heart or lung damage, lameness, deafness, blindness, crippling, maybe death, in the worst case. . ."  
"Oh." Suzee fell silent.  
"If you're going to do this, you do have to get ready." Bova pointed out.  
"Yeah, yeah." She waved the comment off and began to work.

Rosie lifted Thelma halfway off the ground.  
"She's heavier than I thought she would be." She muttered quietly, dragging her as quickly as she could to where the Commander was waiting, on the other side of the strange heated corridor.  
She dropped her three times before getting out of the glowing corridor.  
"Wonder why the corridor is like that." Rosie said.  
"Yeah. Seems like the environmental system is messed up."  
Rosie nodded, and accepted her headband back.  
The Commander knelt and rolled Thelma over so she was on her back, before replacing her crystal. Thelma's eyes blinked open.  
"Hello, Commander."  
"Thelma, what happened?" He stopped and held up a finger. "That made you deactivate."  
"Iiana said 'what cannot adapt, must be destroyed.'" Thelma said matter-of-factly, sitting up. "Thank you for reactivating me."  
"Um, you're welcome." The Commander said. "Who's Iiana?"  
"Oh, she is a creature I do not recognize. She wants to be kept secret."  
The Commander and Rosie exchanged glances.  
"The Jeisal that bit Radu." Rosie said, she turned to Thelma. "Black, feline, prehensile tail?"  
"Why, yes. You've met Iiana too? She's very polite."  
"She deactivated you." The Commander pointed out.  
"Yes, but she was very polite about it. She even apologized."  
"Um. . .so, then, Thelma, can you tell us where this Iiana is?"  
"Yes."  
The Commander waited.  
"Thelma?"  
"Yes, Commander?"  
Goddard sighed. Of course, Thelma would be in the mood to take everything anyone said completely literally.  
"Where is this Iiana?"  
Both he and Rosie looked intently at Thelma as her head dipped and jumped back up.  
"She is in the cargo bay." Thelma reported.  
"Lead us." The Commander ordered.  
"Yes, Commander."  
"Rosie?"  
"Sir?"  
"Jeisal?"  
"Oh! Right. I'll explain everything. . .well, as much as Suzee told me."


End file.
